Euronews

Some 150 sub-Saharan migrants have managed to enter the Spanish enclave of Melilla from Morocco, after storming the border fence.

Dozens of others failed to make it across and were detained by Moroccan authorities. Some migrants hurt themselves trying to make the crossing.

With this the latest in a string of such incidents, Melilla wants help from Spain’s EU partners.

“It is very easy to talk from the ‘comfortable’ north and not to see problems that we are experiencing in the south but these ‘southern’ problems are also problems for Sweden,” said Daniel Conesa, spokesman for the Melilla local government.

“As a result, first of all, we must insist that the European Union gets involved. That is the situation that the Spanish government finds itself in. It must demand European Union involvement,” Conesa added.

Melilla and fellow Spanish territory Ceuta, along Morocco’s Mediterranean coastline, are magnets for migrants, including Syrians, trying to reach Europe.

The EU has already got involved, asking Spain to explain why rubber bullets were fired at migrants trying to swim to Ceuta earlier this month.

At least 15 people drowned. The Spanish government denied that rubber bullets were fired directly at the migrants.